World Trade Center

The World Trade Center in New York City (sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association created and chaired by David Rockefeller, who had the original idea of building the Center, with strong backing from the then-New York governor, his brother, Nelson Rockefeller. The World Trade Center, New York, like most all World Trade Centers located around the globe, belonged to the family of World Trade Centers Association. Larry Silverstein held the most recent lease to the complex, the Port Authority having leased it to him in July 2001. The complex, located in the heart of New York City’s downtown financial district, contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million m²) of office space, almost four percent of Manhattan’s entire office inventory. Best known for its iconic 110-story twin towers, the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. Despite the first two disasters, the World Trade Center was a part of New York City’s identity and was recognized all over the world as an icon for the United States of America. All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. One World Trade Center (1 WTC) and Two World Trade Center (2 WTC)-the North Tower and South Tower, respectively, collapsed, as did 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC).

The Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC. 4 World Trade Center (4 WTC), 5 World Trade Center (5 WTC), and 6 World Trade Center (6 WTC) were damaged beyond repair and later demolished. In addition, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (not part of the complex) was destroyed by the collapse of 2 WTC; the Deutsche Bank Building was damaged beyond repair and is set for deconstruction.

September 11 Attack

On September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m., Al Qaeda suicide hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., a second team of hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower, which collapsed at 9:59 a.m. At 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. At 5:20 p.m., 7 World Trade Center collapsed. The four remaining buildings in the WTC plaza sustained heavy damage from debris, and were ultimately demolished.

At the time of the incident, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the massacre, as on any given day upwards of 100,000 people could be inside the towers. Ultimately, 2,750 death certificates were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks, as of May 23, 2007. Of these, 1,614 (59%) were identified from recovered physical remains. Morgan Stanley was the largest tenant in the World Trade Center, with approximately 2,500 employees in the South Tower and 1,000 in the North Tower. For the following 8½ months, the World Trade Center site cleanup and recovery continued 24 hours a day and involved thousands of workers. The massive pile of debris smoked and smoldered for 99 days.